I have to be honest. I wasn't familiar with the term hypermnesia before Colts coach Jim Caldwell used it to describe Peyton Manning.

It means having an “unusually vivid or precise memory.” The dictionary also says something about it being “associated with certain mental illnesses.” But I'm pretty sure Caldwell wasn't calling Manning crazy.

At any rate, being a sportswriter of limited vocabulary (is that redundant?), the word I would use to describe Manning and the Colts, and explain why they're back in the Super Bowl, is shorter and more commonplace:

Cool.

Cool in demeanor. Cool under pressure. Cool whenever everything around them is heating up, such as an opponent's lead or an inopportune turnover.

You've seen it time and again if you've watched the Colts this season. They fall behind, sometimes by a little, sometimes by 17 (Houston, we have a problem), and yet they show no signs of distress.

They remain patient. They remain analytical. They remain cool.

I wouldn't be surprised if the New Orleans Saints jump on top early in Super Bowl XLIV. I will be surprised if there's panic on the Colts' sideline. Scratch that. I would be shocked if there's panic.

“That's when you really need to be the most patient, when you're behind,” Colts tight end Dallas Clark said. “You don't want to panic because you know what you put in is going to work. Guys may have to execute a little better here and there, change a few things here and there. But it's not a thing where you throw everything out and say, ‘All right, we have to do something brand new.'

“The more you stay calm, the better.”

Examples of the Colts' calm abound in their 16 wins this season, but the one that stuck in my mind - the scenario that epitomizes their unflinching focus - came in their 35-27 win at Houston on Nov. 29.

That was the game where the Colts trailed 17-0. They chipped away, as you knew they would.

But here are the back-to-back plays that stood out: Manning throws a short pass, deep in Colts territory, to running back Joseph Addai. Addai bobbles it and is lit up with a fearsome hit by Dunte Robinson. Somehow Addai holds onto the ball. But this is a bone-chilling blow that produces a blood-lust cheer from the home fans.

Manning gets straight to the line of scrimmage and hits a 31-yard pass to Austin Collie while the Texan fans are still buzzing about Robinson's hit.

Six plays later, the Colts have the lead.

Cool under pressure.

The mind-set starts at the top, and that's true whether you consider the top to be Caldwell or Manning. Or both. Caldwell's the coach. He makes the big-picture call and he exudes calm. The next time his facial expression on the sideline reveals excessive worry will be the first.

Manning, of course, is the executor of calm on the field. He directs those improbable two-minute drives (that usually take about 56 seconds) when everyone knows he's looking to pick a team apart in the air. They know what's coming. Most of the time, they can't stop it.

Suddenly, it's the defense that's mentally stressed and panicking, not to mention running out of breath because the Colts' no-huddle offense precludes substitutions.

“We look at it as, no matter how many points you're down, you're never out,” Wayne said. “We can use those instances where we've come from behind to our advantage.”

Most of that cool emanates from the offense because of the quick points they put on the board. But the defense, too, exhibits its own poise. Among the plays in that comeback win at Houston were interceptions by Clint Session and a forced fumble on a sack by Robert Mathis. Melvin Bullitt made the hit when it had to be made on that infamous fourth-down pass by New England.

Even off the field, cool prevails. The Saints made minor news by talking about laying some hits on Manning, “cutting off the head” of the Colts, etc. It's hard to say whether this was intended to motivate the Saints or try to draw the Colts into a verbal spat. Or maybe it was just a result of too many interviews.

Caldwell calmly said the Colts won't worry about what the Saints say.

Rex Ryan and the Jets talked a good game before the AFC Championship game, too. You don't need hypermnesia to recall how that one turned out.